Marine Le Pen, member of parliament and French far-right National Rally (Rassemblement National – RN) party leader, arrives at the RN party headquarters in Paris, France, July 1, 2024.
Benoit Tessier | Reuters
The political future of France’s far-right National Assembly leader Marine Le Pen hangs in the balance with judges in Paris set to deliver their verdict in an embezzlement trial Monday.
If found guilty, Le Pen could face a 300,000 euro ($325,000) fine, prison term and an immediate five-year ban from public office — which would prevent her from running in the 2027 presidential election.
This outcome would throw France’s powerful right wing into disarray at a time when Le Pen is leading opinion polls ahead of the next presidential vote.
Le Pen and 24 other members of her political party, Rassemblement National, are accused of diverting over 3 million euros ($3.3 million) of European Parliament funds to pay staff based in France instead.
Le Pen and her co-accused deny the charges, while the party describes the trial as a politically-motivated witch hunt.
State prosecutors have asked that Le Pen face an immediate five-year ban from public office if found guilty, using a so-called “provisional execution” measure that would disregard any appeals process, Reuters reported. It noted, however, that judges can adopt, modify or ignore prosecutors’ requests.
It’s widely expected that Le Pen will launch an appeal against the conviction if found guilty.
Ahead of the verdict, Le Pen said she hoped the judges in the Paris Criminal Court on Monday would show clemency.
“I’m waiting for the decision,” Le Pen said In an interview with La Tribune Dimanche, published on Saturday, and translated by Google.
“I read here and there that we’re nervous. Personally, I’m not, but I understand that people might be: with provisional execution, the judges have the power of life or death over our movement. But I don’t think they’ll go that far,” she added.
Le Pen’s trial has cast a shadow over a strong renaissance for National Rally in recent years; the party won the first round of a snap parliamentary election last summer before the country’s leftwing alliance won the second round.
France was plunged into political chaos last year after Macron called a snap election after suffering a heavy defeat at EU elections. The president then appointed centrist Michel Barnier to lead a minority conservative government, but this proved short-lived as the government ultimately failed to get support from the left and right for its 2025 budget plans.
The new centrist government under Francois Bayrou has succeeded in passing the budget, after making concessions to the left, but remains vulnerable to political pressure from both the left and right.
